


Seeing Harry

by VerityGrahams



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Mentor Relationship, One-Shot, Severitus, first year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 13:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13789194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerityGrahams/pseuds/VerityGrahams
Summary: This is a random one-shot, where I look at what would happen if Severus Snape managed to see Lily in Harry and not James.





	Seeing Harry

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter. 
> 
> This is also strictly a one-shot, I do not think I can do anything with this that has not already been done better by other fictioners!

It was only Harry’s first week at Hogwarts and he had been sorted into a house, Gryffindor, he was happy about that but he also had this nagging feeling that he should have been in Slytherin, mainly because that is what the Sorting Hat had said to him. He had a sneaking suspicion about that professor with dark greasy hair to his shoulders, he hadn’t stopped looking at him all through the feast, Harry had no idea why, he couldn't tell if it was immediate dislike bordering on hate, curiosity or something else entirely. He found the dark man hard to read. This teacher he would have this morning, for potions. He decided to go early, a lot of things had been playing on his mind, he hadn't been happier in his life than when he was here, but he was worried about the Slytherin thing, he was confused about his parents and it was hard to adjust his view of them, not to mention the ridiculous view the wizarding world seemed to have of him. He just hoped the strange professor would be able to help. He figured he should be able to help with the Slytherin thing, he was the head of Slytherin after all, at least that is what Percy had said. No one seemed to like this professor, but surely he couldn't be that bad, he chose to work with children, there must be some desire to help his students, surely? He knocked cautiously on the professor's office door and waited for some response. 

“Enter” The man had a deep silky voice, it didn’t make him feel all that comfortable, and he spoke his words so precisely, overall his initial thought was that the man would be intimidating. 

“Professor?” he asked tentatively. He walked in and there sat a man, his head was bowed over many papers, his dark shiny hair fell over his face and voluminous dark robes made him look large and imposing. 

“Sit” The professor didn’t even look up to see who it was. 

“Sir, I wanted to talk before the lesson, I-” he didn’t know where to start, in his head he had hoped that the man would have been warmer than Percy had said, that he would be inviting, maybe he would have tried making him feel at ease when he read the concern and fear on his face. However, he hadn’t even looked up. “I think I should have been put in Slytherin, but I begged the hat not to,” Once he began he found it hard to stop, “But that’s not the worst bit, I don't want to be taken from Gryffindor, because for once I have friends, and I don't want to go home…ever, my family hates me, and they lied to me, and I am really struggling to focus on anything because only a few weeks ago I believed that my mum and dad had died in a car crash,” he stumbled over all the words.

Harry hadn't noticed that the professor had looked up. Unbeknownst to Harry, Professor Snape had hated this boys father, he had expected the boy to act as much like his Father as he looked like him, but what he saw was a far cry from arrogance, it was uncertain, frightened. His initial instinct was to berate the boy for wasting his time, but when he looked up to do just that he saw her eyes, he remembered her eyes looking like that when she would confide in him about her sister, how separated she felt from her family, when she was hurt and upset they looked just like that. He chose differently. 

“Why did the hat say you should be in Slytherin?” his voice was calm and even, his eyes focused yet again on the papers before him.

“The hat said it was difficult, he said I had courage, and not a bad mind, talent and a thirst to prove myself, he said that Slytherin would help me on the way to greatness, but I didn't want to be in Slytherin, that’s why he put me in Gryffindor” He thought he might have offended the teacher by saying that he didn't want to be in Slytherin, but he thought he would offend him more if he said why, that he had learned that the Wizard who killed his family had been from that house, but the professor did seem to want to give answers. 

“And why didn’t you want to be in Slytherin?” He questioned, surely the boy would show his arrogance now, his prejudice.

“erm - well, it’s just that Hagrid, he told me what happened when I was a baby, I had never known before, and then I found out that he was from Slytherin, the one who killed my parents, the one who gave me my scar, I thought it would mean I was like him” he felt awkward and stupid.

“And yet you come to the head of that house… Do you think I am like him?” His voice was cold still, not exactly prejudice, but very close.

“No, sir, I came to you because I thought you might be able to explain Slytherin to me better, I don't know anything about this stuff, my Aunt and Uncle, they lied to me because they hate me, they hate my mum and everything to do with magic.” He didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of the stern professor, but his emotions were building up and he felt that the last thing he was showing was courage. He half expected the man to tell him not to worry, Slytherin doesn’t except wimps!

He couldn't help but look at the child before him, he knew Petunia wouldn't be loving to the boy, hateful though? And the boy said he just wanted to understand. “Slytherin is a house known for those that are cunning, clever, want to go far and are willing to do almost anything to get what they want, these are not necessarily evil characteristics, though I won't deny, most Dark wizards have them. Given your history, it’s understandable that you wouldn't want to be in Slytherin, however, Courage and wanting to prove yourself are Gryffindor traits also, and I imagine it would be a good fit, both of your parents were in Gryffindor” he finished coolly. 

“You knew my parents?” Harry looked up, maybe he had found someone who could talk to him, someone who could help him understand who they really were? “It’s just I don't know anything about them, I only heard what my Aunt Petunia said, and I think she was lying”

“What did you hear?” He didn’t confirm or deny, he wanted to know what was being said though, he didn’t want to get in deep, he asked Dumbledore to keep his task secret, he could not get close to the child.

“They said that my dad was an unemployed drunk” he couldn't keep the sadness out of his voice, “The only thing I heard about my mum was what my Aunt Marge used to say about why there was something wrong with me, ‘if there’s something wrong with the bitch, then there’s something wrong with the pup’” tears sat in his eyes, he finally looked up at the professor, his eyes flashed with anger,

“They said that to you.” It wasn’t a question “Your mother was the kindest woman I ever met” he hadn’t realised what he had done until the words were out of his mouth. 

“You knew her? Can you tell me about her?” the boy's eyes lit up for the first time since he walked in the room.

“Another time I can, not your father… we did not get along at all” he tried to end the conversation bluntly, though the look on the child’s face was now more eager and also more confident.

“Did you love her?” He asked, 

Professor Snape, looked at the boy, knowing the answer and yet unsure of what to say, there was a line that he would cross if he spoke the truth, if he let Harry in, he wouldn’t be able to hold him at a distance, uncaring and protecting him simply for Lily’s sake, there was a danger he would see more of her and care for the boy far more than he ought to, especially considering the mark on the inside of his forearm, the mark that would one day burn a new, meaning he was called to serve the one that wanted this child dead. To openly care would ruin all of Dumbledore’s plans. He had to make a choice.

"Always" his voice barely a whisper.

**Author's Note:**

> Please Kudos and Comment if you like.


End file.
